Chapter 1: Jason

Jason woke up, wondering where he was. “Ah, my head,” he said softly. He quickly sat up and stared around his room nervously.“How did I get here?" He stood up but could hardly keep his balance. Jason put his head into his hands and sat on his bed. He remembered the cliff. “Was that a dream?” Jason rubbed his eyes. He stood back up and went to the bathroom. As he looked in the mirror he realized his hair had grown longer. “What on Earth?" Then he realized that it was a little normal. "It’s probably nothing; it’s natural for hair to grow, right?” Jason filled up the sink and washed his face. He washed the corner of his eyes. When he checked himself in the mirror the second time he noticed his eyes had gone darker. “What on earth is going on?”

Jason stepped inside the shower. Whilst in the shower he looked as his arms and realized he had become a lot hairier. He started to get worried. Jason wrapped a towel around him and slowly walked towards the bedroom. As he was walking he looked down on the tile floor and stared at his reflection. Suddenly he saw a lion and he jumped backward.

“You’re fine Jason; it’s just in your head,” he reassured himself. Jason started to feel less paranoid now and assumed it was just puberty. As he got dressed his phone started to ring. He looked at it and saw that it was Jim calling. “I will see him later, whatever he wants can wait.” Jason went back into the bathroom and started styling his hair.

“Jason!” his mom called.

“Yeah mom!” he replied.

“Hurry up, your breakfast will get cold!” she said. Jason brushed his hair to the side and geled it down.

“Just a minute!” he said. He took his toothbrush out of the cup and squirted toothpaste on it. As he opened his mouth he saw that his teeth are bigger and sharper, especially his canines. “Something is going on,” he said to himself.

He left the bathroom and ran straight through his room. He opened the door to the hallway and made his way downstairs. He entered the kitchen and noticed his younger sister sitting there at the table, her back turned to him. He began to creep up on her. He grasped her shoulder firmly. She screamed and jumped out of the chair. She turned around, saw him, and then yelled, "Don't do that again!"

Their mother appeared in the entrance to the living room. “What did you do?” she asked.

“I was only playing with her,” he replied.

“What’s up with your hair?” she asked again.

“Puberty.” Jason looked over at where his plate of pancakes were. He dashed over there and wolfed them down, draining a glass of milk that had been next to the plate. “See ya later!” he said with his mouth full. Jason ran out through his back door.

He made his way towards Jim’s house. Jason approached the door. Before Jason could knock, Jim opened the door. “You didn’t answer my call this morning,” said Jim.

“Well I’m here now, what is it?” replied Jason.

Jim moved out of Jason’s way and Jason walked in. Jim’s house was medium sized and his furniture wasn’t too fancy.

“Still lonely?” asked Jason.

“I will survive,” answered Jim.

Jim sat down and Jason sat down opposite him. Jim looked him directly in the eyes and Jason realizes Jim’s eyes had become brighter.

“You think that’s bad, check this out." Jim opened his mouth. He had huge canines that where shaped like daggers. His tongue had become pointed like a reptile's and his saliva was thick and grotesque. Jason leapt out of his chair and landed on the other side of the room.

“Put that thing away!” demanded Jason.

Jim did as he was told and picked up his bag for school. He puts his hand on Jason’s shoulder as a sign of reassurance. Jason has another flash back about what happened at the cliff. He thinks really hard and focuses on the necklace. He remembered the writing on it: “дух."

“What does it mean?” he said to himself. When Jim and Jason left for school they saw Mikel and Skratch across the street. None of the two approached or spoke to the other but there was tension in their glare. “I’ve got to go, see you in school,” said Jim.

Both Jim and Jason went their separate ways. Jason started to lose his balance again but quickly pulled himself together. He looked up only to see Skratch in front of him. “What do you want Skratch?” Jason asked.

“Looks like you need some help,” said Skratch.

“I’m fine,” said Jason.

“Clearly, you are not because I’ve never seen someone so special,” joked Skratch.

Skratch began to laugh maniacally. Jason did not find it funny and hit Skratch in the stomach. Mikel saw this. Mikel walked across the street to confront Jason, “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

Jason put his head into his hands. “Go away,” he demanded.

Mikel and Skratch still stood in front of him. They looked at him and started to laugh. “Flicker, you’re a joke,” taunted Mikel.

Jason started to pant heavily, his vision beceme blurry and he fell to the floor.

“Kage, this may sound weird but do you know how I got here?” asked Jason. Jason sat up.

“I found you passed out on the floor and carried you here,” explained Kage.

Jason rubbed his eyes and stood up. “Thanks man,” said Jason.

Kage patted him on the back “No problem bro.”

Jason walked out of the medical room and entered the hall way. He saw Kayla and Liz and made his way over to them. However, he was pushed over by Derek before he could get to them.

“Out of my way, loser!” Derek shouted.

Jason gets up and brushed himself off. “Last time a checked you were the one that got in my way.” He argued.

“Why you-” Derek grabed Jason by the shirt and got up in his face. However Kage intervened and pulled Jason away.

“Why don’t you take me on Derek?” asked Kage.

“Gladly!” said Derek. Derek grabed Kage and is about to hit him. The football coach put his hand on Derek's shoulder.

“My office, now!” he shouted.

Kage smiled and Derek and the football coach walked off.

“Thanks again buddy” said Jason.

“Anytime.” replied Kage.

Jason noticed that Kayla and Liz walked off during the confrontation. Jason fixed his hair and walked to his next class. When he arrived at his class he sat in his seat which happened to be next to Mikel.

“I will be assigning you a project today, it will be about the greenhouse effect and how we could stop it. You and your partner will have to make something that can stop this effect, the best project will receive a $200 gift certificate,” explained Mr Reeds “Your partner will be the person sitting next you.”

Mikel did not like this and clenched his fist in anger.

Jason looked at him. “We are going to need to do this project together so let’s put our differences aside and work together.”

Mikel looks at him “I don’t need you, I don’t need anybody. You are just a nuisance.”

Mikel was furious and clawed the table. The whole class looked at him and he sent out a tremendous roar.

Jason jumped out of his chair and looked at Mikel. Mikel’s eyes flashed yellow. Jason ran out of the class room. He ran through the hall way and burst through the entrance to the school. He kept running and almost caused a major accident on the road. Jason finally stoped when he got to the woods. “I need answers.” Jason walked toward Moonlight Cliff in search of the Necklace. When he reached the cliff, he saw the Necklace lying there and went over to it He got on all fours to get a better view. A couple of meters ahead he finds the necklace. He picked it up again and read the writing. It was “дух."

“What does it mean?” he asked himself. The writing suddenly glowed a bright yellow and the transcript changed to English. It now read, “spirit.”

“I need more than that, what on God's earth is happening!” Jason suddenly felt a sharp pain on his fingertips and he was shocked to see claws unretracting from underneath his fingernails. The same thing was happening on his other hand. His top and bottom teeth were being pushed apart to make room for new, longer canines and his tongue grew longer as well. As his claws were coming out from under his fingernails his hands' muscles thickened and he could see the palm of his hand darkening into what looked like paw pads. Fur was covering both of his hands and he could feel it on his arms as well. His fingers were getting shorter as the paw-like appearance became more visible. He could feel the very same sensation in his feet. He could see bumps on the tips of his shoes and his feet were becoming very hot. His shoes ripped open as his feet became too big for them. He could feel his muscles bulging and moving all over his body.

Jason felt a bold pain in his back. Jason had several bumps going down his back and shoulder blades were raising themselves as his ribcage grew bigger and more lion-like. He fell to the floor, writhing in pain as his spine was finishing changing shape. His shirt tore up when it got too small for his growing torso. Fur was growing all around his neck and back. His arms and hands were covered in fur. Jason's ears were moving up to the top of his head as they grew into a rounded point. His shoulders and neck were growing longer fur as the lion's golden mane was growing out. His knees cracked and bent backwards as his femurs broke in half and his legs became digitigrade. Jason's shirt tore up completely and slid off of his furry body. Fur was still growing all over his body and his mane was full and covering most of his head. He could feel the lion's tail sprout like a flower on his lower back. His face felt like it was on fire; his nose was growing outwards and more canine teeth pushed out his molars and blood filled his mouth. His muzzle was cracking and crunching as it grew more outward. Jason's eyes turned golden yellow and his eyelids turned black. When his muzzle growth was complete he could feel whiskers coming out of his chops. He looked at himself in a puddle and is shocked to see he turned into a lion. He yelled in panic but all that came out was a lion's roar which echoed out onto Moonlight Cliff.

A tall black man stood behind Jason, hidden by the large trees. He wore a black tank top with blue jeans and black Nike trainers. "So it is happening," he said.